UCLA
Utah
UCLA Aims to Secure Outright Pac-12 Title
April 18, 2018 | Men's Tennis
With the top spot at the 2018 Pac-12 Championships already locked up, the No. 2 UCLA men's tennis team will attempt to secure the conference's outright regular-season title Friday when No. 38 Utah visits Los Angeles Tennis Center. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday will also mark the Bruins' Senior Day, with head coach Billy Martin and the team set to recognize Austin Rapp, Martin Redlicki and Logan Staggs at the conclusion of doubles action. The Bruins bring a 22-2 record (7-0 Pac-12 play) into the match, while the Utes are 19-6 (2-4).
UCLA VS. UTAH
UCLA holds a 13-0 all-time record versus Utah. The Bruins were pushed in their most recent meeting with the Utes, who pulled even at 2-2 with three singles matches yet to be decided. Ultimately, Bruin senior Gage Brymer knocked off David Micevski on the top court, 7-6(2), 6-3 to clinch the match.
LAST WEEK
The Bruins swept a pair of Pac-12 matches in the desert, defeating No. 33 Arizona State and Arizona. UCLA saw itself behind the eight ball after dropping the doubles point to the Sun Devils Friday, but took four of the five singles decisions (all in straight sets) to capture the win. Connor Hance and Maxime Cressy simultaneously won their matches for the third and fourth points. Sunday, the Bruins took the doubles point from the Wildcats and never looked back. Evan Zhu won a first-set tiebreak and eventually clinched the overall win on court 2. The sophomore also teamed with Martin Redlicki for the deciding doubles win.
SENIOR SALUTE
Each one of Austin Rapp, Redlicki and Staggs has tallied 50-or-more singles wins in his Bruin career. Austin Rapp (54-39 singles record, 74-40 doubles) has been equally consistent on and off the court, already holding two ITA Scholar-Athlete accolades and two more Pac-12 All-Academic honors in addition to being a force on the doubles courts. Redlicki (104-30, 80-27), one of the program's most decorated players, is looking to become a four-time All-Pac-12 performer and four-time All-American. Staggs (88-36 overall, 63-23 with UCLA) joined the Bruins after transferring from Northwestern and has posted at least 20 singles wins each year in Westwood.
CRESSY NAMED PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE WEEK--AGAIN
Maxime Cressy has been named the Pac-12 Player of the Week for matches played April 9-15, the conference announced Tuesday. The honor marks the third of Cressy's junior campaign and sixth of 2018 for the Bruins. No other Pac-12 team has garnered more than three awards. The Hermosa Beach, Calif. native notched a 4-0 week to help the Bruins secure an undefeated road record in Pac-12 play and the top spot in the 2018 Pac-12 Championships (April 25-28) in Ojai, Calif. The junior, who picked up straight-set wins over Andrea Bolla of Arizona State (6-1, 6-4) and Jonas Maier of Arizona (6-4, 6-0) over the weekend, ran his individual record to 5-0 in conference road matches. Cressy also teamed with Bryce Pereira for wins over Ben Hannestad-Will Kirkman of ASU (6-2) and the Wildcat team of Trent Botha-Shoti Meparidze (6-3). The Bruin doubles pair has a team-best 15 wins on the season. The three awards earned by Cressy this season also represent the first of his career. He was previously honored March 6 and April 10. UCLA has claimed 39 weekly accolades all time and three in a row.
HOME COOKING
UCLA's 13 wins at LATC to start the season continued a string of recent success for the Bruins on their home courts. When the Bruins defeated Ole Miss in the second round of last year's NCAA Championships, they completed their home season with a 16-0 mark at the Sunset Canyon Tennis Courts. Over the course of that streak at its temporary home, UCLA outscored opponents 67-13. The Bruins also held an unblemished home mark in 2015-16, as they won all 11 of their matches at LATC. Dating back to the 2014-15 season, the Bruins have won 42 consecutive home contests at LATC and Sunset Courts.
TOP-RANKED BRUINS
For the third straight week, the Bruins are atop the USTA College Tennis Top 25. The latest version was released April 18. UCLA is No. 2 in the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings, meanwhile, with the most recent version also released April 17. Senior Redlicki, who began the dual-match season as the nation's top-ranked player by Oracle/ITA, was again elevated to that spot on March 20 and has remained there since. The Boca Raton, Fla. native is 19-5 (10-3 in dual matches) on the season. He holds an impressive 15-4 mark against ranked opponents. Joining Redlicki in the singles rankings are Bruins Smith (No. 52), Zhu (71) and Staggs (94). The doubles team of Austin Rapp-Smith, meanwhile, is slotted at No. 12, while Redlicki-Zhu is No. 58.
REDLICKI WINS NO. 100
With his 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) win over Patrick Kypson of Texas A&M at the ITA Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 18, Redlicki earned the 100th singles victory of his UCLA career. The Boca Raton, Fla. native joined an elite club that includes former teammate Karue Sell (2012-16). Redlicki's top-court win over Kypson also clinched the match and put the Bruins into the ITA Indoors final. Redlicki holds a 104-30 career record.
ITA INDOORS RUN
Seventh-seeded UCLA became the lowest-seeded team to advance to an ITA Team Indoor Championships final under the current seeding system last month in Seattle. After dispatching 10-seed Illinois in the first round, 4-2, the Bruins pulled off improbable upsets of second-seeded Ohio State, 4-1, and sixth-seeded Texas A&M, 4-2. The Bruin journey would come to a close in the title match, where UCLA fell to No. 1 Wake Forest, 4-2, despite winning the doubles point. The Bruins did not once drop the doubles point during their four matches, with their Court 2 team of Austin Rapp and Keegan Smith shining the brightest. The senior-freshman duo went 3-0 on the tournament, clinching the doubles point on each occasion. The Austin Rapp-Smith team was rewarded for its performance, as it earned All-Tournament Team recognition. Smith also went on to earn the first Pac-12 Player of the Week honor of his career on Feb. 20.
FALL BALL
A number of Bruins put on championship performances throughout the fall. Austin Rapp did double duty at the San Diego State Fall Invitational (Oct. 6-8), claiming the Flight 1 championships for both singles and doubles (with Goldberg). Smith took the top spot at the Jack Kramer Collegiate Tournament (Nov. 2-5), edging out then-No. 8 Tom Fawcett of Stanford for the singles crown. The Larry Easley Memorial Classic (Nov. 3-5) singles title went to Cressy, who also picked up the consolation championship at the Sherwood Collegiate Cup (Jan. 12-15).
PROFESSIONAL BRUINS
Dennis Novikov picked up a 6-4, 6-3 win over Christian Garin at the $50,000 Morelos Challenger, which spanned from Feb. 19-25. It marked Novikov's third Challenger title. Mackenzie McDonald, meanwhile, nearly shocked the professional tennis world Jan. 17 in second-round play at the Australian Open. The Piedmont, Calif. native, who turned professional after the 2016 season, fought third-seeded Grigor Dimitrov to five sets before falling, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 0-6, 8-6. McDonald won four qualifying matches in order to reach the main draw, where he posted a first-round victory over Elias Ymer, 6-4, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1. In other recent Grand-Slam action, Jean-Julien Rojer (2000-02), joined Horia Tecau to take the men's doubles title at the US Open in September. They defeated the Spanish pair of Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, 6-4, 6-3.
HEAD COACH BILLY MARTIN
Head coach Billy Martin is in his 25th season as head coach of the Bruins, and 35th on the staff. During his tenure, Martin's teams have accumulated a dozen conference championships and the 2005 NCAA title. Just two of Martin's teams have finished outside of the top five teams at the season-ending NCAA Championships. They have also not finished outside of the top three teams in the Pac-12 standings. He has earned Pac-12 Coach of the Year honors four times (1996, 2012-14) and the ITA National Coach of the Year award once (1996). Martin has also led three players (Benjamin Kohlloeffel in 2006, Marcos Giron in 2014 and Mackenzie McDonald in 2016) to the NCAA Singles Championship and two teams (J. Gimelstob/S. Muskatirovic in 1996 and M. McDonald/M. Redlicki in 2016) to the NCAA Doubles crown. An ITA Tennis Hall of Famer, Martin was named the "Junior Player of the Century" by Inside Tennis Magazine. Before turning pro, he played one season at UCLA (1975), during which the Bruins captured an NCAA team championship. He also won the NCAA Singles Championship. Martin holds an overall record of 567-119 (.827) overall and a 155-27 (.852) mark in Pac-12 play.
Players Mentioned
